Started at the Black Mountain Campground and hiked to the top on a great, clear day. The hike itself was shorter and easier than expected, but to our surprise, the Black Mountain Campground and access was closed due to construction. Had to walk an extra few miles to get to trailhead, i suggest you check the Park Service website first.

Did a day-hike to Mt Mitchell. Round trip 16-17 miles. started from the Carolina Hemlocks campground on NC-80 and went up the Colbert Ridge trail. The followed the Deep Gap trail via Cattail Peak, Big Tom and Mt Craig to Mt Mitchell. Got lost on the way down and finished somewhere on Locust Drive.

I did this hike twice last year in Sep and Oct 2004. A lot of bush-whacking was required then. While going down Colbert Ridge, watch-out for a fork (if you take the left you would have a long walk down a mountain road which eventually becomes Locust Drive).

We arrived at Mt. Mitchell early in the morning and had the summit to ourselves.

It was very foggy/cloudy. There were no views. We climbed up the obnoxious tower structure that the park has for some reason built at the summit and gazed into the clouds from higher up.

Mt Mitchell is a disappointing Southern 6er. The tower, the road and enormous paved parking lot, the snack shops and the throngs of pale, fat lazy Americans that flock to the mountain during the fall and summer months all detract from the scenic splendor of the highest point on the East coast.

Moderately long day. Weather changes near the top. The whole trail was covered in ice. Bring water with you. Would like to do the traverse. Road was still closed at this time. Had to hike in to campground a couple of miles.

Left Black Mountain Campground at 2:00pm reached summit at 4:50pm or so. Returned by same route by 7:30pm. Passed two hikers headed downward while I was heading up. Temp approx 60F at Black Mountain CG and probably high 40's at summit (snow nearly ankle deep on shaded parts of the trail near top.) Overall a fairly steep and rocky-rooty hike the entire way. Took the Higgins Bald option returning, path hard to follow just after the bald itself (heading downward) although it looks as though it's being worked on.

Note: there's a map at the Black Mountain Campground building which is misleading. It shows a retired entrance to the trail. Take the first left just after the bridge into the campground (which is right behind you if you're looking at the map board I'm referring to) and follow the white dots to the newer trail route.

Rode mountain bike from Montreat NC up old Mitchell Toll Road to summit on March 5, 2005. Took about 4 hours going up and 1.5 returning. Snow drifts about knee deep near tower, and gale force winds that day.

great day in sept for a hike. A very hot day at the bottom of mt. mitchell but very cold when I got to the summit and it felt great. I have a great web site with tons of pictures and also a short viedo of the summit. Please come visit. http://members.cox.net/mt.mitchell

With 40-pounds of gear on the weekend of an approaching cold-front, this route was suprisingly more difficult that I imagined. It took me nearly 5 hours to reach Commissory Ridge - where I left my gear to make the 1 - hour scramble to the top. I spent the night in the Commissory campsite, where my thermometer read 8 degrees Farenheit at sunrise. A cold front brought moderate snow to the middle of the mountains in the morning but the top of the trail was already covered with about 14 inches and there was ice all over the place. I only saw one other person on the mountain the whole weekend. I'll have pictures up on my blog as soon as I get them developed. www.whatdididotodeservethis.blogspot.com

A spectacular day with only 2 or 3 other people on the summit. Clear air gave fantastic views for miles, even though the leaves had pretty much dropped. The smell of the spruce/fir forest was very strong and with the terrain and deep blue sky, I felt almost like I was back out west.